ENGAGING IDEAS - 12/14/2018

Every week we curate stories and reports on complex issues. This week: New research that suggests Americans aren't as conservative as Congress thinks. One university's push to make sure foster children graduate from college. Focusing on opportunity, instead of income disparities to fix a city's inequality problem.

Democracy

Congress
thinks the public is way more conservative than it actually is. Deep-pocketed
lobbyists are to blame, according to new research. (Washington Post)
Senior staffers in congressional offices hold highly inaccurate assumptions
about what voters in their districts actually want when it comes to policy.
They tend to believe that voters support much more conservative policies than
they actually do. Continue Reading

Can Socialism Save Democracy? (Common Dreams)
If socialism is going to save democracy, it needs to bring about equality
without snuffing out freedom, and it needs to respect the role of markets
without letting them dominate society Continue Reading

Mapped: Why Voting Anomalies Are Impossible to Ignore in North Carolina (The
Upshot)
After a long election season, there is just one House race where the result
remains in serious doubt: North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District. The
state's Board of Elections has refused to certify the narrow 905-vote lead that
the Republican, Mark Harris, holds over the Democrat, Dan McCready, and is
investigating allegations of absentee ballot fraud. Continue Reading

Opportunity/Inequality

From foster care to college (Hechinger Report)
Western Michigan University is one of several colleges that have started
programs to help foster youth earn degrees Continue Reading

How Urban Core Amenities Drive Gentrification and Increase Inequality
(CityLab)
A new study finds that as the rich move back to superstar cities' urban cores
to gain access to unique amenities they drive low-income people out. Continue Reading

City Governments Should Focus On Opportunity, Not Income Inequality (Forbes)
The common belief today is that income inequality has exploded-the rich are
getting richer while the incomes of the middle class and poor stagnate. But a
new study from the Urban Institute reviews several studies on income inequality
and finds that this perception is not accurate. Continue reading

Engagement

Durham's
New Blueprint for Equitable Community Engagement (Next City)
Beyond the blueprint, city leaders have taken a hard look at racist policies
and how they inform inequities in Durham. The city joined the Government
Alliance on Race and Equity; it formed a Racial Equity Task Force; many city
staff now go through race equity training. Continue Reading

Term Limits Heighten Need for Community Boards to Become Data Literate
(Gotham Gazette)
Communities are empowered when their community boards are equipped with both
the knowledge and the resources they need to challenge information practices
that ignore or misrepresent people and problems in their neighborhoods. Continue Reading

K-12

How the stress of state testing might make it harder for some
students to show what they know (Chalkbeat)
The annual ritual of state testing in elementary and middle schools often comes
within an unwelcome side effect: jittery, stressed-out kids. Now, a first-of-its-kind
study documents some of what's actually happening to students. Continue Reading

Survey: More than half of US teachers concerned about language barriers with
ESL parents (Education Dive)
A recent ClassDojo survey of more than 560 randomly-selected teachers
nationwide indicates 71% of those surveyed have taught students for whom
English is a second language in the past three years, and 56% worry parents of
these students don't have enough English language skills to effectively
participate in parent-teacher conferences and other aspects of school
communication and experiences, according to a press release. Continue Reading

Higher Ed/Workforce

As
Labor Market Tightens, Women Are Moving Into Male-Dominated Jobs (The Upshot)
Widening opportunities do not automatically translate into better pay or a
decline in gender discrimination. Continue Reading

OPINION: 3 ways that colleges can support underrepresented students after
the Harvard case (Hechinger Report)
New research shows that even with a chief diversity officer in place,
significant gains in faculty hires that are multicultural and diverse are
lacking. At schools such as Yale, Harvard and Stanford, faculty from
underrepresented backgrounds account for 7 percent or less of the total. A lack
of influence over diverse faculty hires can be troubling. Continue Reading

The Degree Rules, for Now (Inside Higher Ed)
College credentials still loom large in hiring. But a new survey of HR leaders
finds growing interest in skills-based hiring, online microcredentials and
prehire assessments. Continue Reading

Health Care

How to Cut U.S. Drug Prices: Experts Weigh In
(New York Times)
A look at policies and possible trade-offs, including the risk of hampering
innovation. Continue Reading

Health insurers look to digital tools to improve customer experience (Modern
Healthcare)
Health insurance customers generally report poor experiences with their health
plans. Only utility and internet and television service providers have worse
customer service scores, and that's saying something. But health insurers say
investing in digital tools and other technologies can help them fix this and
give their customers a personalized, frictionless healthcare experience. Continue Reading

1 in 5 patients at high risk of socioeconomic health problem, survey finds
(Healthcare Dive)
A study of 500 random patients found that 68% suffer with at least one social
determinant of health (SDoH) challenge, with 57% having moderate-to-high risk
in at least one of the following categories: financial insecurity, social
isolation, housing insecurity, addiction, transportation access, food
insecurity and health literacy. Continue Reading